County fair opens in just two weeks

MIXED START--As this week begins, Sunday was warming up real quick. Our morning clouds that had been hanging around almost all day recently, gave way to sun so it was feeling quite warm to me as I was attacking the weeds in my flower beds. I was sort of wishing for the clouds again, and by golly, for the next two mornings, there was a good deal of mist falling from the sky and it stayed cloudy all day here on Monday, while other places were really sunny and bright. While we were in the 60s, other folks were in the high 70s and low 80s, so a big difference for us "coast folks." I know everyone is anxious to have the sun return, and it looks like they may get their wish as they say it will be nice for many days to come. I don't care if it's damp and cloudy now, as long as the good weather shows up for us around fair time!

SPECIAL DAYS--Those celebrating birthdays from August 5-11 are John L. McClain, Brian McClain, Treasure Collupy, Marsha Helms, Jenny Benfit, Jeremy Bennett, Danny Eaton, Amy Gorley, Terry Bonny, Penny Pithoud, Marjorie Williams, Mike Backman, Tenneal Harris, Judy Ostling, Wendy Blix, Lisa Johnson, Bob Hendrickson, Jenny Pedersen, Jason Blain, Jeff Nicol and little Paydn Pedersen will be three years old on Monday.

Happy Anniversary wishes this week to the Brian McClains, the Don Speranzas, Doug and Sunny Manary, the Dewey Smiths, the Pat Dennises, the George Hanigans and Bill and Marie Schwarze will celebrate their Golden Annivesary at the Duck Inn with an open house from 4 to 7 p.m. this Saturday. Happy celebrations to one and all!

My apologies to Tim and Tara Hoven for omitting their special day last week. They celebrated anniversary number five on July 29. Also belated wishes to the Jeff Baldwins. Many more happy anniversary wishes to you two as well, along with my apology!

SPECIAL DAY--Susan Kenner Brown will celebrate her birthday with friends and family Sunday, at the Norse Hall from 2 to 4 p.m., as she hits the big "6-0," so we hope you'll go and enjoy a piece of cake with Susan and help celebrate her big day! Happy Birthday, Susan!

EXPANDED--The second in the series of Silver Buckle Gaming events, held at the fairgrounds last Saturday, certainly grew from the first event, as the number of entries tripled! The Skamokawa Grangers served a limited menu of sandwiches, chips and strawberry shortcake, and they seemed to go over quite well. The last of the series will take place on the last day of the fair. It's great to watch the kids and their horses compete.

MEETING ON MONDAY/FAIR SOON--The Skamokawa Grangers will meet on Monday at 7 p.m., as scheduling for the grange food booth gets underway. We have lost a huge helper in Phil Zerr this year, as he was injured quite seriously in a horse back riding accident recently, so we are looking for someone to fill in his many hours of work in the food booth. We hope Phil recuperates fully real soon. If you'd like to help out the grangers, volunteers are always welcome, so give either Donna Moody or me a call and we'll get you included on the schedule!

There's only about 10 days until you have to start entering things in the fair which begins officially two weeks from today. The grounds are looking good and the new exotic bird building is going up in record time!

Fair passes are just $6 for all three days, August 19 - 21. I hope you've picked one up from one of the princesses already, which are Cassie Bolton and Akaysha Stonebreaker this year. Both of these girls are selling raffle tickets with great prizes to be had, like a trip to the Great Wolf Lodge. Buy your tickets today and maybe you'll be a lucky winner!

NICE TRIP--While son Nathan Chamberlain was here last week, he and his family, along with dad Bill, headed to Benton City in Eastern Washington to see his grandpa, Veryl Chamberlain, formerly of Grays River. At the end of the five hour trip, they got to visit with his Aunt Karen Blain and saw all four of her kids, Jason, Rachael, Jenny and Robert and most of their children as well, so it was a busy day catching up with all the cousins and their doings. The drive was taken up one side of the river, and back on the other, and they saw many sites that were really impressive to the "flat-landers" from Texas. On the trip back, they stopped at Multnomah Falls, as Nathan's wife, Debbie, had never seen a waterfall before. The flats of Texas don't yield too many of those! So, of course, it was a definite must see for them. The group arrived back in Skamokawa for a very late salmon dinner, which was another treat for them. They headed back to Texas the following morning. It had been a long day, but well worth the trip to see everybody. A morning treat of maple bars proved to be a first as well for Debbie and Bryce as they had never had them before. Seems where they live there are donuts and eclairs and cruellers and such, but no maple bars. Wow, they've been missing out! Nathan called the next morning to say it was 86 degrees there by 8:30 a.m. and they certainly missed enjoying our shade and cooler temperatures in the afternoon and evening hours. It was great to show our Texas family around our vast, green countryside, along with the mighty Columbia River and our view from Vista Park, etc. They truly loved it here and hope they'll be able to come back soon.

HUGE SURPRISE--Gwen (Good) Ronninghaug, formerly of Cathlamet and now of Norway, was the recipient of a huge surprise recently. She had been expecting her sister, Kari Claussen of Cathlamet, to arrive for a visit and to attend the wedding of Gwen and Arve's son, Steven, but little did she know that Kari was bringing Gwen's twin sister, Lynn with her! It was a happy, happy moment to say the least, as the trio of girls gathered for the first time ever in Gwen's home in Norway. This was a trip that included a multitude of important events, as the girls brought their mother Reidun Green back to her homeland to be laid to rest, as well as attend Steven's wedding and of course, to visit with family members there. They experienced tears of joy at their reunion, tears of sadness at saying goodbye to their mother, tears of joy at the wedding and more tears of sadness as Kari and Lynn had to say goodbye, but these tears were shared in the love of three sisters, so they were tears well shed in the memories that they will hold in their hearts forever.

JUST SO SAD--My heart goes out to my fellow columnist Trudy Fredrickson and her husband Delvin, as they lost their home in a fire last week. That was just so sad and tragic, and it comes on the heels of another chimney fire, which destroyed the Steve Olson family home the week before, so while Trudy was just asking everyone to help them, it is ironic that she is now in need of some of the same kind of help. A fund raiser for the Olsons is scheduled for August 14; an auction at Rosburg Hall from 4 to 9 p.m. While the families are busy replacing their material things, we are so happy that no one lost their lives in either fire. Keep them all in your thoughts and prayers as they deal with the loss of their homes.

TAKE CARE--The Jerry Knowles family is still in need of a few extra prayers as they are both recuperating from recent surgeries, so I hope they take it easy and recuperate fully real soon. Jonnie was still at the nursing home when I went there the other day but Jerry was at home. Hopefully they will be reunited soon, if not already. Take care you two!

SYMPATHY--We'd like to offer Roger Davis and his family our deepest sympathy in the loss of his daughter Debra Davis Cannaday, who passed away on July 24 at the age of 58. A service was held for her on July 31 in Kelso.

SEPTEMBER DOINGS--Next month we'll be able to go down to the Elochoman Marina and once again enjoy the tasty dishes of chili that folks will be conjuring up for our varied palates. It's amazing how one person will just "love" all that spice and zing in their chili, while others prefer that meaty, milder flavor, so I hope you'll come down and pick your favorite on Sept. 4 at the Seventh Annual Chili Cook-off! More to come on that event in the weeks to come.

The following weekend will find us all back in Skamokawa as the Friends of Skamokawa will host their annual Wine Tasting and Auction at the Skamokawa Grange Hall. If you've been a sponsor of this event before, you probably received a letter informing you of the upcoming event and a request for another donation that could be used in either the silent or live auctions. We hope you will respond generously. If you'd like to donate something, please contact Redmen Hall at 795-3007 and let them know, as all donations are welcome. Some of the items donated are truly unique, and it's always great fun to get in on one of those bidding wars during the live auction, and of course, trying to get your name and bid on the last line of that silent auction item you want before the deadline comes! Enjoying the great food and wines and cheeses is also very enjoyable and it's just a terrific social event to enjoy with your friends and neighbors while supporting a very good cause. Hope to see you there September 11!